UTSA study shows airborne coronavirus particles can travel more than a mile

San Antonio Airborne coronavirus particles will be able to travel more than a mile, depending on weather conditions, according to a new study written by the UTSA Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

A peer-reviewed study by Kiran Bhagnagar and her graduate student, Sudhir Bhimreddy, used New York City meteorological data in March and April to run computer simulations on how virus particles affect aerated plums – hundreds of thousands of people coughing out of a single cough. Can be done.

“From the initial time of the research, the virus spreads in the air for 30 minutes, covering a radius of 200-min at a time, 1-2 km away from the original source,” according to the study.

Studies do not suggest how many viruses a person needs to be infected. It therefore does not reflect which place the plume may be a risk to passers-by.

However, Bhaginagar still sees results as evidence that COVID-19 could play a role in aerial transmission in the epidemic.

“In most cases, we found that there was about a kilometer where they were significantly present,” he told KSAT on Tuesday. “And so, we don’t know how many numbers are needed to get infected, yet, as a route, it’s very likely that it could cause a transmission.”

Although prevention efforts have focused on avoiding close contact with infected people, the possibility of airborne transmission from coronavirus has also been discussed.

The Associated Press reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published it on its website earlier this month, then withdrew, suggesting that it believes the virus can spread through the air and spread over wide distances.

The CDC website currently states that the draft version of the changes to its recommendations was posted in error, and is updating its recommendations regarding air-conditioned transmission.

For now, the website says the virus is thought to have been spread by people within six feet of each other through breathing drops.

The UTSA study is expected to be published in the December issue of the journal Environmental research. It was funded by a grant from the NASA Miro Center for Advanced Measurement in Extreme Environment.

Bhaganagar is the co-principal investigator at NASA Miro Camero at UTSA.